#Bazar Rózyckiego

[grazynasiedlecka]

Grymas Zwany Uśmiechem I A Grimace Called A Smile

Windowlicker Gallery, 03.08 - 31.08.2024, Warsaw, Poland

Opening: 3.08.2024, 13 - 16:30, pavillon nr 40, Nowy Bazar Różyckiego, Targowa 54, Warsaw

Artists: Andres Larraín Araneda, Katarzyna Bialik, Kornelia Bolechala, Basia Budniak, Adam Durjasz, Jakub Dziewit, Sonia Góral, Jadwiga Janowska, Amelia Jawień, Jakub Kostewicz, Wojtek Kutyła, Karolina Maliszewska, Jagoda Malanin, Jakub Pasek, Katarzyna Rogoża-Pochylska, Edyta Rybak, Wioletta Rzepa, Grażyna Siedlecka, Anna Solecka, Milena Soporowska, Aleksandra Szlęk, Justyna Warwas, Marta Życińska

Event organized by Windowlicker & Fresh From Poland

Download the printable zine HERE.

Curator: Grażyna Siedlecka in collaboration with Milena Soporowska

It is commonly believed that laughter is an expression of happiness; laughter is health and a recipe for a fulfilled life. But is that really true?

Few philosophers have written about humor; and when they have, they have rarely spoken positively about it. Plato complained that laughter weakens self-control, and he traced its source to malice. Aristotle considered every joke to be a form of mockery. The Bible also criticizes hilarity: “Woe to you who laugh now, for you shall mourn and weep” (Luke 6:25). John Chrysostom wrote: “Laughter and jesting do not seem to be sinful, but they lead to sin.” The superiority theory—one of the three most popular theories of the philosophy of humor, along with the relief theory and the inconsistency theory—is not sparing in its criticism: it assumes that we find something funny because we feel superior to it (Hobbes, Descartes, Scruton).

The exhibition visually explores this grim side of a smile in times of fashion for flaunting humor and hiding negative emotions.

"Sudden glory is the passion which maketh those grimaces called laughter; and is caused either by some sudden act of their own that pleaseth them; or by the apprehension of some deformed thing in another, by comparison whereof they suddenly applaud themselves."

Thomas Hobbes, "Leviathan"

The exhibition is part of Grażyna Siedlecka's long-term curatorial research on the relationship between laughter, humour and visual arts.

Graphic based on the artwork of Amelia Jawień.

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Windowlicker is an experimental exhibition space. The pavilion acts as something between a gallery and an esoteric stall, thus referring to the tradition of bazaar fortune tellers. You can drop in for an exhibition, but also for a consultation, or read various publications on esotericism, zines, and photography books, and… look at unusual tarot decks.

The name Windowlicker comes from the English idiom "window licking" (window shopping) and the French "lèche-vitrine". Loosely translated, it means “licking shop windows”, which means looking at shop windows but ultimately not buying anything.

The space is run by two creative people: Milena Soporowska (@milsopo) and Piotrek Sobiecki, who performs under the pseudonym Lotus Reaction (@lotus_reaction).

More information: 🔗https://www.instagram.com/vvindovv.licker/ 🔗https://milsopo.tumblr.com/…/windowlicker-exhibition…